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Mursilis
THE SKITTERING JUNGLE DEMON OF THE THIRD CIRCLE, TWENTIETH SOUL OF ORAMUS Between the Shattered Cities where great Oramus is imprisoned and the rest of Malfeas lies Mursilis, the Skittering Jungle. Forming a borderland between Oramus and the rest of Malfeas, Mursilis is a forest of living metal. A component soul formed by Oramus after the Yozi’s imprisonment, Mursilis represents the Dragon Beyond the World’s desire for movement. Because of this desire born of Oramus’s confinement, everything in Mursilis moves. Mursilis consists of insects of various size and shapes formed from a variety of metals such as iron, brass, gold and copper. At a glance, these components look like complex clockworks, but if broken open, they appear to be living insects filled with black organs and blood. Trees are actually either giant mantis-like constructs that stand immobile until likely prey comes along or swarms of smaller creatures held together by complex queen brains. The jungle floor is littered with castoff metal wings, carapaces and other parts that chink and crunch as one walks. Wasps buzz overhead, and centipedes and beetles skitter along the ground. Massive creatures and killer swarms move through the forest seeking prey. Many of the jungle’s inhabitants are poisonous, and none are edible by humans. Some of these creatures are the Skittering Jungle’s Second and First Circle demons, while others are simply parts of the demon itself. The uniform metallic sheen of the jungle combines with the slow shifting of the animated foliage and green light of Ligier to produce a disorienting camouflage for most of the demon’s clockworks. Paths through the jungle often move and change as the living foliage moves and shifts. It is easy to become lost in the Skittering Jungle, and many who do fall prey to predators. As per its nature, Mursilis’s borders shift and move. It always forms some sort of boundary between Oramus’s domain and the rest of Malfeas, but the specifics vary. Sometimes, it forms an impossibly dense jungle in one place and is absent save a few individual insects elsewhere. Other times, it stretches evenly around the whole of the Shattered Cities, ringing the temple-prison of its master in a circle. Mursilis has been known to rearrange suddenly, with migrating swarms devouring everything in their path. Like most Demon Princes, Mursilis exists inside all of his component parts. He sends insect messengers and representatives as needed and can speak and act through them. These messengers appear as metal insects in a variety of shapes and sizes, though the creatures are usually brass, as the demon favors this metal. While he is perfectly capable of assuming a variety of other shapes, he rarely does so. Much as his master’s boundaries are set by his broken wings, Mursilis’s are set by his own preferences. Only in Creation does he sometimes eschew insect form in favor of a brass man or woman with multifaceted eyes or a beautiful woman wearing a swarm of brass beetles. Mursilis is usually summoned to provide assistance with infiltration, assassination and escape. There are few places he cannot slip into or out of, and few creatures can survive his toxic stings. If necessary, he can be less subtle, burying whole cities in a hungry swarm. If called to battle, he often appears as a massive insect-like beast commanding swarms of poisoned metal insects. Like Vitalius, Mursilis’s buzzing and humming typically wards off Adorjan. Unlike Vitalius, the immediate threats of the Skittering Jungle means that few seek shelter there.